An immaculate trilogy that demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of what makes stealth compelling. The sheer density of bespoke content and detail is thoroughly immersive, and it constantly rewards players using the narrative to problem-solve (as opposed to treating all the levels like basic AI manipulation). That it rewards thinking about its problems not as video game levels but as narrative, almost roleplaying scenarios, is a real triumph.

There are a lot of things to applaud. It's got a wealth of variety in its challenges and settings, especially towards the back half. It's unafraid to lean into camp, and its sense of humor was spot-on - especially 47's corny-ass quips, using so sparingly they were always a little treat. And its soundtrack, while typically functional, has a few exceptionally great tracks - and the dynamic nature of its music is handled very well.

It's not a perfect experience - and while I'm not a believer that a five-star game needs to be literally perfect, its weaknesses can be hard to overlook. Its overarching thriller narrative is acceptable but never worth much thought. Levels rarely require the variety of tools provided, especially as players unlock an armory's worth of redundant weaponry. But most worth drawing attention to is World of Assassination's side-content, which never approaches the high bar the trilogy's story mode sets. Were I rating the story missions alone, Hitman World of Assassination (really no colon in there?) would get a full five stars, no question. But there are just too many ways to have a worse time that are all demanding your attention - escalations, freelancer mode, bonus missions, arcade mode, sniper missions, and everything else lack the story mode's hand-crafted love, and frankly just feel like Content (pejoratively). Obsessive completionists should set hard limits before touching this stuff - I could have dropped another 100+ hours into WoA, and it wouldn't have added much to my life. (WoA's online-only nature and labyrinthine purchasing structure are also baffling whiffs that feel like unforced errors.) I'm grateful I got to experience such an impressive and unique trilogy, and I'm glad I'm moving on.

9/10

Tactical Breach Wizards is, above all else, thoughtful. In a genre (tactical combat) where complex themes are often reduced to pulpy set-dressing and anxiety and frustration are common pillars of play, TBW has put in the thought to exceed its contemporaries and present a holistically considerate experience. Sanding down these rough edges leaves gentle nadirs and high peaks - a delightful little game that leaves a strong impression and goes down easily.

Its plot is critical of many things that I'm used to tactics games exonerating & extolling. It's not copaganda or military fetishism; your targets are cops, fashy trad-cath analogues, and PMCs. It's not pro-war (even in the "gritty but ultimately necessary"), as you're mainly working to defuse situations rather than incite them. It even hesitates to glorify violence, which mainly manifests in "I set an anti-trauma ward so all our attacks are nonlethal" magical handwaving, but comes into greater narrative focus late in the game. When classics of the genre often boil down to how cool & necessary it is to kill evil people (see: XCOM, literally anything with Tom Clancy's name on it), it's a breath of fresh air.

To be clear, though, it's not the next great leftist pillar. It is neither radical nor incisive, just moderately ambitious and significantly thoughtful. For example: stories about heroic out-groups aiding rebellions can be thorny. Foreign agents leading a "rebellion" without popular in-group support isn't a rebellion, it's a coup. Some stories try to edge around this without characterizing or even personalizing the in-group rebels, which can easily drift into White Savior territory. TBW avoids this by carefully balancing its character & power dynamics, ensuring that the protagonists are never singular in their rebellion.

Its thoughtfulness doesn't singularly focus on its plot, though. Take its approach to difficulty: it comes with three presets (Easy, Default, and Hard), but allows for highly modular adjustments. Beyond that, nearly every mission comes with bonus objectives - ones that the game constantly (but non-invasively) reminds you are simply for players looking for an extra challenge. These challenges have no mechanic benefit, merely unlocking alternate outfits. TBW's mechanical design further reflects this thoughtful approach to player comfort through difficulty: actions are purely deterministic and forecasted to the player - no accuracy rolls or oddball interactions encourage savescumming. It goes further than that to ease the outcome anxiety that tactics games can encourage - you can rewind your actions as much as you like until you commit to your turn, letting you experiment with as many ideas as you like before you lock one in. Given that most missions are completable in 1-4 turns, this gives players a lot of control over how things play out, and ultimately casts missions more as puzzles than anything else.

Those puzzle-fights are the star of the show, and with all the setup and friction-reducing design choices, they're just magnetic. Missions almost always boil down to open-ended invitations to combine as many mechanics as you can. Launching someone out of a window defeats them instantly, regardless of how much health they have, and you have a variety of options to knock enemies back. Watching a plan come together and hearing the shattering glass is satisfying every time. The level design variety and perfectly-paced drip-feed of new character abilities means that you've always got new mechanics to toys with, new ideas to experiment with and iterate upon. While overarching dominant strategies emerge, figuring out how to implement them is never tedious nor obvious. As "Refresh your ability to move by doing X"-esque mechanics emerge, turns can stretch on in length and complexity, but it rarely becomes overwhelming.

Not all of its elements that are handled thoughtfully are incredibly compelling, though. Its writing is well-refined but always quippy. It threatened to be but never became too much for me (and I have a pretty low tolerance for Whedonism), but I wouldn't be surprised if it was too much for others. Each principal character has their own little emotional arc as well, breaking past the snappy zingers and hitting on themes of abuse and loss of purpose. Again, it's handled well, but it never went beyond hitting my head into hitting my heart. (And again, YMMV - I've seen enough others talk about how they were Feeling Feels.)

Those character-focused moments are one of a few ways the game demonstrates its thoughtful & clever approach to presentation. The highlights of the character moments are those that break out of the "dialogue > combat > dialogue" cycle, playing with the game's tools in unexpected ways. And TBW has a lot of tools for conveying information - constantly updating a red-stringed conspiracy board is a key way of keeping track of the plot. Whether you think red-string conspiracy boards are trite or classic, it's handled very well. It never overwhelms with options or information, and is always willing (but never insistent) to lead you in the right direction.

Overall, TBW is one of the easiest recommendations I can make to anyone who enjoys the idea of puzzle-tactics. Other games of its caliber have more epic peaks, but it makes up for it with an incredibly high and unfaltering baseline. And most importantly, follow TBW's example and defenestrate all cops.

9/10